In communications networks, there may be a challenge to obtain good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol, its parameters and the physical environment in which the communications network is deployed.
More particularly, indoor positioning and localization for industrial may be more common as industrial processes continue to get more automated.
The technology evolution has recently provided inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors and radio technologies suitable for localization at a decreasing cost/performance ratio.
One promising method is to use measurements of radio frequency based parameters and to use measurements from at least three devices, such as radio access network nodes or access points, to triangulate the position of a portable wireless transceiver device.
Since an industrial plant may consist of both production areas and storage/transport areas, it is likely that the production areas will benefit and motivate the cost for highly accurate triangulation coverage, while e.g. the transport tunnels only may need a less accurate localization system. In certain scenarios it may thus be likely that high accuracy will be needed in some geographical areas, whereas some geographical areas may cope with less accuracy.
One example of lower accuracy would be longer transport corridors and tunnels where an accuracy of some meters may provide sufficient accuracy of the position of the portable wireless transceiver device.
One low accuracy localization mechanisms could be to use dead reckoning with input from sensors, e.g. an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which detects e.g. heading and acceleration. However, when using IMUs, it is necessary to synchronize the calculated position regularly since there is a drift in all types of sensors today.
High localization accuracy requires triangulation with at least three fixed network nodes and may provide sub meter accuracy.
Hence, there is still a need for improved passage determination of portable wireless transceiver devices.